Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro delivers his annual address to the nation before National Assembly legislators in Caracas, Venezuela, Thursday, January 12, 2023. The Maduro government announced Monday, January 23, 2023, that the president will not attend, despite what was initially planned, to the Celac summit in Argentina and alleged security reasons. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos)
PA
CARACAS
The government of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro confirmed on Monday that it will not attend the summit of Heads of State and Government of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (Celac) to be held on January 24 in Buenos Aires for security reasons. .
He justified his decision on the existence “of a plan drawn up within the neo-fascist right,” as he calls his local and foreign adversaries, “whose objective is to carry out a series of attacks against our delegation,” the minister reported. of Communication and Information, Freddy Ñañez, in a statement released through his Twitter account.
The entourage, as previously planned, would have been headed by Maduro. After the change of plans, Foreign Minister Yván Gil Pinto will be the head of the Venezuelan delegation, the statement said,
According to the letter, in Argentina, his adversaries would try to put on a “deplorable show, with the purpose of disturbing the development of that regional meeting” and thus “contribute to the discredit campaign —already unsuccessful— that has been launched against our country since the Empire North American”, referring to the United States.
Maduro’s presence at the Celac summit has been the subject of severe criticism from opposition political parties in Argentina and human rights organizations.
Similar claims have been made against Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel.
Celac is made up of 33 member countries and its creation had as its main promoters the then presidents Hugo Chávez, of Venezuela; the Argentine Néstor Kirchner and the Bolivian Evo Morales.
Argentina is the host country for this week’s meeting at a time when the Argentine president, Alberto Fernández, exercises the pro tempore presidency of Celac.
This story was originally published on January 23, 2023 2:06 p.m.
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